Instagram is one of the most popular social media apps in the world. It offers a great way to share your life with friends, family, and followers through photos and videos. As great as Instagram is, many users are concerned about their privacy while using the app.
Do you think someone is stalking you on Instagram? Do you think someone might have a secret crush on you and follow you online? Want to know if someone is taking a little too much interest in what you do on social media?
This tutorial will show you how to tell if someone is watching but not engaging or hiding on your Instagram.
Social media is exactly that, social. If you're online, you're in the public eye, and the people who care about you are the cost of doing business online. That said, there's a difference between actively engaging with you, being curious and watching you, and nagging you.
By harassment, we don't mean a scene from the Netflix Show, Tu; it's more about someone who likes to see what you're doing without saying hello. Still, it's understandable that you'd want to know who's browsing your profile and browsing your posts.
Unfortunately, your options are limited to find out if someone is constantly checking your Instagram profile. There's not a lot of feedback from the network about what's going on, who's viewed what, or when someone viewed your profile. Your only option is Instagram Stories which, like its ancestor Snapchat, tells you who's viewed it.
Instagram Stories: the only way to know who is watching
Instagram Stories are basically a copy of Snapchat Stories, and they work almost exactly the same way. You create an article, define it as a story. The story goes public for 24 hours, then it disappears.
You select someone's profile in the app to see their stories, and they do the same to see yours. Much like Snapchat, Instagram Stories tell you who has viewed your story.
You can swipe up from any of your own Instagram Stories to see who has viewed it. The screen displays the username of each person who has viewed the current story. Although unconfirmed, some believe the order in which the names appear apparently indicates how often they have seen it. Of course, Instagram never confirmed this, but it's an interesting theory.
Catch the Instagram stalker
Instagram Stories are the only way to know who is engaging with your content. Instagram Analytics tells business account owners how many people watched, but they don't reveal which account is viewing your posts. So there is a workaround we found to smother your Stalker.
When you post an Instagram story, you have the option to hide it from others. This is different from the "Close Friends" list which alerts the user that you have shared it with certain people.
Assuming you suspect someone is stalking your content, post a story and hide it from everyone else on your list. Before posting your story, go to the Instagram story settings and select the "Hide story from" option. Select everyone except the person you're interested in. Doing this means they won't know they're the only person who can see the story.
Not only will you see that they have seen it, but if you use Instagram Analytics, you can also see the number of views increase every time. If they watch the story multiple times, you'll know it was them because they're the only person with access to it.
Unfortunately, this is the best way for us to know whether or not someone is actively looking for your content to watch again and again. If you don't have Instagram's Analytics setup, it will only tell you if they watched it.
Other ways to test if someone is stalking you on Instagram
Besides showing you who viewed your Instagram story, there's no other way in the app to tell what's going on. Snapchat offers a lot more information about who's doing what, but Instagram doesn't.
So if no one is leaving a review or otherwise engaging with you, you're in the dark, or are you?
Use third-party apps to spot an Instagram stalker
There are many third-party apps, browser extensions, and websites that promise to show you who is viewing your profile. Many of them do not work, while others require access to your private information for malicious purposes.
Although there may be legitimate resources, users should beware of the dangers of using such a service. Read reviews and do your research on the developer before signing up for anything.
Dealing with Harassment on Instagram
There's not much you can do if you think someone is stalking you on Instagram. As long as they're not making threats or seriously bothering you, they're not doing anything legally wrong. This is the price of social networks. You're there for all to see, and people can do whatever they want with the information you post online.
If your suspicions get the better of you, you can change some privacy settings on Instagram that might prevent the person from following you on the network.
- Open the Instagram profile at the bottom right of the screen and select the three line menu icon.
- Select Parameters et Intimité.
- Sous Account confidentiality, activate Private account.
A private account is only visible to people who follow you. People who want to follow you will send a request that you can accept or decline at your discretion. This setting makes you much less visible on Instagram by letting you decide who can see your profile and posts.
You can also deactivate your activity status:
- Open Parameters then Intimité on Instagram.
- Select Activity status and switch View activity status à désactivé.
This will prevent anyone from seeing what you are doing on Instagram, but will also prevent you from seeing other people's activity status. It's a two-way street.
If you have any idea who is harassing you, remove them as a follower.
- Select your Profile au be d'Instagram.
- Select followers at the top.
- Select the Remove button next to the subscriber you want to remove.
If you've set your account to private, that person won't see anything you do on your account until they're a follower. They can still see your comments or likes on other people's posts, but they won't see anything you post on your own profile.
A private Instagram account reduces the social media engagement factor, but also offers a bit of protection. You can try making your account private for a month or two and then make it public again. Chances are that whoever is bullying you will be bored by this point and move on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some more answers to your Instagram privacy questions.
What can I do if someone is threatening on Instagram?
If someone has threatened you through a comment or direct message, the first thing you should do is take a screenshot. Many professionals recommend that you don't respond to someone who is hostile on social media, but capturing an image of the content with their username will help you move forward.
You can report the user to Instagram by clicking on the three-dot menu in their profile or by visiting Instagram's support website (this is where snipping comes in. If the threat is serious enough, or if you think it's valid, it's probably a good idea to contact your local law enforcement authorities.
If someone appears at the top of my feed, does that mean they view my profile a lot?
There's a theory that Instagram's algorithm puts the people you interact with the most at the top of your feed. While that makes sense, it hasn't been confirmed by Instagram.
The Facebook-owned company may use similar algorithms on the Instagram platform to bring you stories and posts that are likely to interest you. That said, it's certainly plausible that those who appear at the top frequently check your profile and vice versa.
Latest Thoughts
Instagram can be a great app for sharing photos and videos with friends, family, and followers, but it's not the best app for those who care about their online privacy.
As it stands, there's no real way to tell if someone is stalking you on Instagram. So, as you should when using any social media platform, always be mindful of what you post when using Instagram.
